“The task now is to ensure that the firefighters who will be called upon to deal with them have the numbers, equipment, training and resources they need to keep communities safe.”
By Steve Wright
Summer 2026 saw devastating and widespread wildfires across the UK, destroying homes, businesses, farmland, and infrastructure. This proves the climate emergency is no longer a distant threat for future generations; it’s here, and firefighters have a unique perspective on the frontline dealing with the consequences. This must serve as a stark warning of what lies ahead as climate change increases the incidents and severity of extreme weather events. The El Niño weather system will shape our climate for years to come, increasing pressure on fire and rescue services. The FBU warns that years of cuts to the service have undermined the country’s resilience to such events, and that tackling the climate crisis must include investment in fire and rescue.
The climate crisis is now a reality of firefighters’ working lives. Wildfires pose significant challenges for the fire service; they can burn for hours on end and spread rapidly, and ground temperatures can reach 100 degrees Celsius. Shockingly, many firefighters facing these arduous conditions did so without adequate PPE, forced to tackle wildfires in protective equipment designed for housefires as they were not provided with appropriate, lightweight alternatives. Firefighters tackling the same fire, side by side, from different brigades could be doing so with completely different PPE. Some firefighters became so overheated they were hospitalised with heat exhaustion.
Wildfires can spread rapidly, covering large areas of land, requiring significant numbers of specialist resources and firefighters often working prolonged periods of time without adequate relief. In 2025, a wildfire on Holt Heath in Dorset required crews from 17 different brigades, including as far away as Merseyside.
The FBU believe the status quo is not sustainable, and urgent investment is needed in the fire and rescue service if the country is to be adequately prepared for future extreme weather events. A brutal programme of austerity has seen 12,000 firefighter jobs cut since 2010, approximately 20% of firefighter posts. This has a devastating impact on resilience. Fewer firefighters mean fewer appliances available, reduced ability to rotate crews during prolonged incidents and a weakened capacity to maintain emergency cover for other incidents crews are drawn in to tackle wildfires elsewhere. The FBU have warned that cuts have made response times longer and reduced resilience across the service.
The FBU is calling on the government to implement a UK-wide wildfire strategy to ensure the country is better prepared for the challenges ahead. The union is demanding at least 5,000 additional firefighters to begin reversing the impact of more than a decade of austerity, specialist lightweight wildfire PPE for every firefighter, specialist vehicles and equipment, and nationally recognised wildfire training and competency standards. The union is also calling for better welfare facilities for firefighters attending incidents for prolonged periods, and increased, sustained investment to restore safe crewing levels.
A resilient service needs the capacity to prepare for incidents and protect communities while fires are being brought under control. The FBU is also calling for better land management, stronger public awareness campaigns and long-term prevention measures. The union urge a national definition of what constitutes a wildfire, aimed at addressing the differences in how incidents are recorded and managed across the country must be part of this strategy.
At TUC Congress in September 2026, the FBU received unanimous support from across the trade union movement for a wildfire summit, which would bring together stakeholders from across the sector to discuss resilience measures. This summit would be with the aim of developing a coordinated national approach. The FBU welcome the Prime Minister’s commitment to chairing this event, and looks forward to working with departments across government to build resilience and prepare for challenges to come.
The FBU is bringing a motion to Labour Party conference this year that brings these demands to government. The FBU highlight that in August the military had to intervene to tackle wildfires in South Wales as the service was simply too overstretched to respond to the demands on them. The FBU argue this clearly demonstrates the urgent need for immediate and sustained investment in the fire service. We know extreme weather events will continue; we need to make sure our service is ready to respond safely and protect our communities.
This summer has demonstrated that wildfire resilience cannot be the responsibility of individual fire and rescue services acting alone. The government’s own national framework recognises that extreme weather, including wildfires, flooding and heatwaves, is becoming more frequent and severe and that fire and rescue services need to plan accordingly.
The union is urging the government to turn the lessons of this summer into long-term resilience. The FBU has made clear that firefighters cannot be expected to meet an escalating climate emergency with a service weakened by years of cuts. The government has an opportunity to work with firefighters, fire and rescue services, land managers and other agencies to establish a properly resourced national wildfire strategy. As the fire minister has acknowledged, wildfires are becoming more frequent and severe. The task now is to ensure that the firefighters who will be called upon to deal with them have the numbers, equipment, training and resources they need to keep communities safe.
- Steve Wright is the General Secretary of the Fire Brigades Union (FBU). You can follow him on Twitter/X here, and follow the FBU on Facebook, Twitter/X and Instagram.
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